New Wimbledon rekindles old memories for Graf

As a seven-times champion, Steffi Graf thought she knew every nook and cranny of Wimbledon and considered it to be her personal backyard.

Looking forward to a trip down memory lane, she jumped at the chance of teaming up with husband Andre Agassi to play in an exhibition event to mark the unveiling of the new retractable roof over Centre Court.

When she walked through the All England Club gates for the first time in 10 years as a competitor on Sunday, however, she got a shock -- her backyard had been landscaped beyond recognition.

"Wimbledon has changed a lot in 10 years," a wide-eyed Graf, who had been a regular visitor to the tournament until Agassi retired in 2006, told reporters.

"I live 10 years back. I've come to watch Andre over the years but as a spectator you feel very different. You take your place and watch the game and see some familiar faces but you don't really [see anything else]."

Since the German waved goodbye to her fans in London after losing the 1999 final to Lindsay Davenport, the traditional grasscourt tournament has undergone many facelifts.

Apart from the new multi-million-dollar roof over the world's most famous tennis arena, Wimbledon has:

* Scrapped the old 'graveyard of the champions' and built a new number two court

* Introduced equal prize money

* Done away with curtseying to members of Britain's royal family

* Brought in Hawkeye technology to aid line calls

* Got rid of the old and tired player and media amenities in favour of the Millennium Building which houses modern facilities.

"I've never been in here [in the new press conference room] before. I walked into the [new] locker rooms today for the first time. We have a much nice locker room than the guys," Graf observed with a grin.

At which point her disgruntled husband intervened to say: "I got to see the women's locker room today. You're talking about equal prize money, how about equal locker rooms?"

Once they had finished comparing notes on the interior design of their respective locker rooms, Graf and Agassi had the task of living up to their reputation as tennis's most famous power couple -- who between them own 30 major titles.

When they faced the pairing of Kim Clijsters and Tim Henman, being married turned out to be the problem for Mr and Mrs Agassi.

Instead of trying to beat the hell out of their opponents, they acted like a pair of giggling teenaged lovers who struggled to keep their eyes off each other.

After spending a lot of time embracing and kissing between points, the distracted couple lost the match 7-6.

"We enjoyed it so much. I don't know if I've ever smiled this much on a tennis court," said a beaming Agassi.

While the surroundings were novel to Graf, some things were the same.

"It's been 10 years for me and felt like a long time ago," said the 22-times Grand Slam champion, who turns 40 next month.

"You take your first steps in Centre Court and, with the roof and extra seating, it visually looks very different. But the feeling was so familiar and very special.

"I haven't missed it much but when you're out there you really enjoy it.

"It brought back a ton of memories. Like my first match on Centre Court, [against] Jo Durie [in 1984]. Mum made me wear a skirt for the first time. I forgot to curtsey, I was so upset when I lost I just wanted to run off and hide.

"Coming from that moment to playing so many memorable matches against Martina [Navratilova], that always stood out. She was the one I was looking up to and never thought I would be able to win against her on this surface.

"It took me a little while to convince myself that this was going to be a surface I was going to be comfortable on."

Once Graf found her comfort zone, she proved to be almost unstoppable and contested nine finals between 1987 and 1999.